Transferring Allegiance to the Asius Army (2)
"You want us to sleep together?"
When I asked it back, Airen started stammering in complete panic.
Her face, which had already been flushed red from the moment she started cleaning, was now as scarlet as a ripe tomato.
"N-no… th-that's not what I…! I mean, i-it's just that it's time to sleep, so…! S-so…"
"…"
She was the one who brought it up, yet she was this embarrassed about it. What was I supposed to do with her?
Even so, a smile spread across my lips before I could stop it.
Yes. The Airen Juliette I knew was exactly this kind of woman.
I glanced over at the bed.
Huh?
The blankets were spread wide enough, but… looking closer, it felt more like two single beds pushed together.
"Lady Airen."
"Y-y-yes?!"
"This bed. It can be separated. Like this…"
I split the bed as I spoke.
The double bed came apart into two singles without any trouble.
"So you don't need to feel so embarrassed."
"Ah… i-is that so."
Airen said that, then lowered her head and muttered something under her breath.
It was too quiet for me to catch clearly.
Before long, as if she had sorted something out in her mind, she spoke in a clean, composed tone.
"…Yeah. Right. Of course. Okay. Swen. Let's get some sleep, then."
"Alright."
Sleeping together in a double bed wouldn't have been so bad from my perspective as a man.
But for her, as a woman, it would have been terribly embarrassing.
We weren't even married yet. Of course it would feel like too much pressure.
Marriage, huh…
Since things had already come this far…
Should I just take Airen as my first wife?
To be honest, I liked Airen. I didn't know how she felt about me, but if I could marry her, I would do it without much hesitation.
After all, she was beautiful, had a full chest, a childbearing-friendly pelvis, and high Martial strength on top of it.
But her value wasn't limited to those things alone. Her convictions, her pride, the way she never looked down on those beneath her even from a high position—all of that appealed to me deeply.
What man in his right mind would turn Airen down?
In the game, raising affection meant constantly talking to someone, offering gifts, completing requests, and fighting side by side on the same battlefield until the affection value climbed high enough.
At a certain point, you could naturally tell, Ah, I could propose now.
But in this place where that game had become reality… how was I supposed to handle it?
Because it was real, there was no visible "affection value," which made everything more delicate.
The most important thing was this—
In that game, if a proposal failed, affection dropped to zero, and the relationship became so awkward you could barely even speak to the woman afterward.
If you missed some trigger, or just got unlucky with a low-probability failure, the marriage with that female general was as good as over unless you reloaded a save file.
I believed my affection with Airen had risen quite high, and I could sense a bond between us stronger than anything before…
But the last thing I wanted was to fail a proposal and make things awkward with her.
I needed to keep our relationship good at least until I safely brought her over to the Lunarien forces.
If things soured here, I would end up doing nothing but a favor for Yuuri.
The best timing was probably after Lunarien raised her army.
If I proposed after joining Luna's forces, everything would be fine.
Even if she rejected me, the only thing that would break would be our personal relationship—she would still serve under Luna either way.
Sure… it would hurt a great deal, but if we stayed close until then, her affection would only climb higher, and the success rate would improve, wouldn't it?
Even without waiting until we joined Luna's army, a natural moment might come as we spent more time together.
What was certain was that there was no need to rush and ruin things.
"Well then, good night, Lady Airen."
"Yeah… good night, Swen."
With that, she snuffed out the lantern—
and our long day finally came to an end.
After arriving at the new house she would share with Swen and laying eyes on the double bed, Airen's thoughts had been remarkably simple.
Amusingly enough… they were about her first time.
Airen had spent her entire life swinging a sword. She had grown up knowing nothing of men, and even the lord to whom she had sworn her loyalty was a woman.
Her looks had never gone anywhere, so plenty of men had approached her, but she had turned them all down for the sake of her training.
And that had only been in the early days, besides.
Once word spread that she was hated by Lin Brans, no one reached out a hand to her anymore.
No matter how beautiful she was, not a single person was willing to take her while defying their lord.
The first one to reach out to a woman like that—
and the one who had willingly shouldered the stigma of traitor alongside her—was the man beside her now. Swen.
Of course Airen knew. The reason he had left the Brans Army was purely because of her.
Even if he was waiting for Lunarien to raise her forces, working comfortably in a nation the size of the Brans Army would have been far more convenient than coming to a weak little country like this.
He had refused that convenient path for her sake. That was why she had sworn to raise her sword for him.
So… if Swen ever asked her to share his bed—
she was prepared to accept.
People said a first time hurt more than it felt good… What if her complete lack of knowledge ended up putting Swen in an awkward position?
What if her chest—so much larger than other women's that the difference was obvious—looked dull or clumsy to him?
Worries she had never once had in her life as a warrior, the worries of an ordinary woman in love, had newly taken root in her mind.
That was why today's bath had lasted longer than usual.
Airen lowered her gaze and examined her body here and there.
Because she had walked the path of a warrior, her body was far from the pale, beautiful, smooth skin of the ideal woman she imagined.
A little rough, firm rather than soft, with defined muscle here and there and faint scars showing in places.
Her trained body had always been a source of pride. Why did it look so unattractive today?
Would Swen… like a body like this…?
Even if it was an unattractive body, if he simply praised it, she felt she would be alright.
Somehow calming her racing heart, she waited as bedtime drew closer… steeling herself little by little—
when he said,
"This bed. It can be separated. Like this…"
Hearing that, she let out a half-sigh of relief—
but the other half of her was clearly disappointed.
So, without meaning to, she let her true feelings slip out in a tiny voice.
"What a shame…"
The moment the words left her mouth she startled and checked his expression, but
fortunately Swen didn't seem to have heard, and offered no comment.
They each lay down in their separate beds.
Airen looked toward the bed where Swen had already fallen asleep and thought,
Swen… if you want me… I…
Airen suddenly felt a flutter deep in her stomach.
It had been the same last time… In front of him, she kept discovering sides of herself she had never known.
It was a feeling she had never experienced with any other man.
Naturally… Airen could not fall asleep for a long time.
The royal palace of Anel Castle.
Parfalle knelt and spoke to Lin with deep apology in her voice.
"I am truly sorry. If only I had been able to come straight to Anel Castle instead of the south… I might have realized something was wrong."
Airen Juliette had surrendered to the Asius Army with more than thirty thousand soldiers.
This surrender was not simply a matter of losing troops and a general.
It meant that the surplus forces free to move without being fixed along the border had evaporated in an instant.
For the Brans Army, which had already lost around twenty thousand men thanks to Kalintz's blunders, it was nothing short of a fatal blow.
And of all people, the other side was the Asius Army.
Wasn't the Asius Army the greatest obstacle standing in the way of the Brans Army's plan to quickly seize the central region and confront the north and south?
The soldiers were one thing, but Airen was an exceptionally capable general. If the tip of her blade turned toward their own forces…?
"…"
Lin said nothing, twisting a lock of her hair with a carefully composed expression.
But Parfalle, who had served her for a long time, could tell.
Right now, Lin was barely swallowing her rage.
In all the years she had served her, Lin had never been this furious.
That was why Parfalle was afraid.
The sparks could easily fly in her direction.
So she pressed her forehead to the floor. She wanted to live.
"I failed to make the correct judgment. I will accept any punishment."
"…"
Honestly—
Parfalle knew better than anyone how Lin had treated the deeply loyal general Airen—
so Airen's betrayal itself only made her think, Well, it was bound to happen eventually.
If anything, she had never understood how Airen had stayed by Lin's side all this time, desperately trying to earn recognition through merit.
But—
the betrayal of Swen, the new general who had talked about earning merit for Kalintz's sake, was a genuine shock even to her.
On top of that, he had shown the meticulousness of sending a letter to separate Parfalle from Lin.
The reason she had believed that letter was because she had never even imagined he would betray them.
Unlike Airen, whose betrayal made sense, he had no reason to turn traitor.
He had already proven his ability to a certain degree. If things had continued as they were, he could have competed with her for the position of State Tactician.
From Parfalle's perspective, if Swen kept producing miraculous results and giving correct advice, she had already resigned herself to losing the seat if it came to that.
No… that wasn't entirely true.
If she added one single assumption, the reason for his betrayal became absurdly simple.
To save Airen Juliette…?
The memory was already faint now, but—
on the day Swen first took up his post, he had lived in Airen's house under the lord Lin's orders.
If a young man and woman lived under the same roof, it wouldn't be strange for feelings to develop.
What was remarkable was that adding the reason "to save Airen Juliette" also explained why he had held the northern fortress to the bitter end, risking his life.
Because she was there.
He had risked his life and performed that desperate defense in order to protect her.
If Swen had not worked that miracle, Airen would almost certainly have died at the hands of Serpina's army.
The excuse he had given for the defense—protecting Kalintz's honor or whatever—became nothing more than a pretext the moment he betrayed them.
In the end…
because Lin had obsessively antagonized Airen for no good reason, she had lost both Airen and Swen.
And the one who had provided the decisive connection between the two of them was none other than Lin herself.
According to what Parfalle later learned, this very expedition had been decided after Swen advised, "If you put Airen in the vanguard, her life may be in danger. It would be better to send another general."
In other words, Lin had been trying to get Airen killed. She had simply been betrayed in the process.
Swen had made excellent use of that murderous intent.
What was bound to explode finally exploded.
Parfalle, whose mind worked quickly, realized that everything was ultimately Lin's fault.
But… precisely because her mind worked quickly, she could never say that out loud.
One wrong word and her own head would be the one to roll.
Just then—
Lin, who had been silent, slowly parted her lips.
"Parfalle."
"…Yes?"
"What do you think?"
"…What do I think… about…?"
Unlike Parfalle, who asked while trembling with fear,
Lin's demeanor was extremely cold and composed.
"It was Airen, wasn't it?"
"Pardon…?"
"Airen seduced him, didn't she? Swen. With that vulgar, lewd body of hers."
"…???"
"How else does this situation make sense? Swen told me he just wanted to rise in the world. He told me he would place the world in my hands. So why… would he betray me? Swen? The Swen I personally brought in—why would he betray me?"
"…W-well…"
In truth, that "I want to rise in the world" had only been a smokescreen.
From the very beginning, Swen had planned everything in order to extract Airen from this place.
The evidence lay in the fact that he had been the first to say, "Taking Airen would be dangerous"—if only she could say that out loud.
But her mouth simply would not open.
Lin could not accept it.
The fact that the Swen she had chosen had discarded her.
It was fine for her to do the choosing, but accepting that she herself had been filtered out was impossible.
So once again she sought the reason in the Airen she hated.
That would be far easier to accept.
It was not a particularly good habit… but for a leader who needed to keep her mental balance no matter the situation, it could surprisingly be considered a strength as well.
"…Airen Juliette… so she betrayed me in the end. I knew she would. That bitch—every time I saw her face I couldn't stand it. Just because she was lucky enough to have a good father and ended up serving me… she was so damn arrogant… Don't you think so?"
"…"
"You said it was the Asius Army, right? The place that bitch ran off to with Swen."
"…Y-yes, that is correct."
"Is that so? Then I'll have to show her. Right in front of her eyes—Swen becoming truly mine… Don't you agree?"
"…"
"Let's finish cleaning up the western front quickly. We're going to be busy for a while. An insult received must be repaid. Don't you agree, Parfalle?"
Once again, Parfalle could say nothing.
She could only hope this tidal wave would pass quickly…
and that when her lord regained her composure, she would realize her own mistakes, even if belatedly.
As long as it didn't involve Airen, she still believed Lin Brans had more than enough qualities to become an outstanding sovereign.
And so, somehow, Parfalle withdrew.
Left alone in the royal palace…
Lin shot up from her seat and hurled the decorative sword that had been standing nearby.
"……Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!"
Crash!
The thrown sword left a rough mark on the floor with a harsh noise.
Only after she had thrown everything her hands could reach did she gradually begin to calm down.
Betrayal.
To be betrayed.
And of all people, by Airen Juliette.
By the woman she hated so much she wished she would just die…
and taking with her the Swen that Lin herself had brought in…!
Airen Juliette… I will never forgive you, never…!!!
She bit down hard on her lower lip as she vented her rage.
Tasting a faint trace of blood, she suddenly began to giggle.
The laughter was so cold and sharp it felt like the sound of being stabbed by a pointed icicle given form.
"Haha… ha. Fine. Right in front of your eyes, I'll take back the thing you treasure most…"
Lin sat back on the throne, still giggling as she thought.
What reflected in her dead eyes was pure madness itself.
…Wait for me… Swen. I'll open those clouded eyes of yours that got temporarily bewitched by a stupid bitch like Airen… again…♥
Seeing that she had no intention of changing her mind no matter what anyone said—
Parfalle's decision not to offer advice had been an extremely wise choice when it came to preserving her own life.